Hyundai Owners Can Relax: Company Renews Valuecare Program

LOS ANGELES — Hyundai Motor America's free-maintenance program has survived company cost cutters and will be continued for the 1993 model year.

The program, called ValueCare, has been under scrutiny as Hyundai looks for ways to trim costs.

Hyundai adopted the program on the new Elantra a year ago to help ease customers' fears about buying a Hyundai.

Hyundai officials thought ValueCare would help the company escape the vicious cycle of rebates.

But Hyundai hasn't been able to cut back on incentives.

It currently offers customer rebates of $500 to $2,000 on 1991 and 1992 models. And sales continue to fall, as they have for three consecutive years. Through August, Hyundai sales were off 8.4 percent.

The program received a vote of confidence last December when it was extended to all Hyundai models. But President D.O. Chung, who took the helm at Hyundai Motor America in January, is apparently no fan and has said the program might be dropped.

Sources inside Hyundai say Chung and other Korean managers reconsidered when they saw market research showing that people who knew about ValueCare were 15 percent more likely to consider a Hyundai.

In addition, most dealers like the program because it helps close deals and gives them something to advertise besides rebates.

Hyundai executives will not confirm the cost of ValueCare. When it was introduced, they estimated the cost at $500 to $600 per car. That would be $58 million to $70 million annually, based on the company's U.S. 1991 sales of 117,630.